This invention relates to large fabricated gears and more particularly to a vibration damping system for such gears.
In conventional gears, vibratory energy is conducted away in many vibratory modes in structures connected to the gears and eventually becomes noise. However, vibration isolation features such as side plate thickness steps, compliant mountings and compliant bearings reflect vibratory energy back into the gear. The damping in conventional gears is low and vibration energy builds up in the gear until the energy is sufficiently high to be transmitted across the vibration isolation devices and produces noise in supporting structures. In order to reduce the vibration transmitted, a damping system within the gear is required.